Battle over Peace Bridge stokes Canada-U.S. cross-border tension

Peace Bridge: Canada-U.S. cross-border tension increases

Three U.S. lawmakers have launched a bid to scrap the “dysfunctional” binational agency that has overseen operation of the Peace Bridge between Ontario and New York for nearly a century, part of the escalating fallout from a dispute over planned improvements to the U.S. approach to the crossing that has pitted Canadian board members against their American counterparts.

The Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority — commonly known as the Peace Bridge Authority — and the key international link it has administered since 1923 have been hailed as symbols of the enduring friendship between the U.S. and Canada after the War of 1812, the key battles of which were fought near the present site of the Niagara River bridge that connects Fort Erie, Ont., and Buffalo, N.Y.

But that peaceful coexistence has been strained within the PBA boardroom in recent months, with Canada’s five, federally-appointed members and the five U.S. representatives locked in a deepening conflict over a planned, multimillion-dollar upgrade to roads and facilities on American side of the bridge.

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Also at play in the dispute is a planned $25-million truck pre-inspection facility to be built on the Canadian side of the border, part of a two-nation pact recently signed by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and intended to streamline security operations and ease traffic flow over the bridge.

The deal to permit the truck pre-inspection station in Fort Erie includes a landmark Canadian decision to permit U.S. border guards to wear firearms on the Ontario side of the border.

The Peace Bridge handles about five million car and 1.5 million truck crossings annually and is deemed vital to both the Canadian and U.S. economies, supporting some $30 billion in cross-border commercial activity every year.

Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo intervened directly in the PBA dispute, sending a letter from his office to Transport Minister Denis Lebel that urged the Canadian government to pressure its five appointees to expedite approvals for construction projects on the Buffalo side of the border.

The Canadian chair of the bridge board, Niagara Falls hotel executive Anthony Annunziata, told the Buffalo News on Friday that suggestions by the Cuomo administration that Canada’s PBA members are blocking controversial property developments on the U.S. side are “absolutely absurd,” but underlined the board’s desire to act with “responsibility and caring for the community” living near both ends of the bridge when approving major upgrades.

Buffalo residents have been battling some parts of the upgrade plan because of concerns that building demolitions, new roads and other changes will increase traffic, worsen noise and pollution and intensify other neighbourhood impacts.

U.S. board member Sam Hoyt, meanwhile, has decried the “inexplicable lack of cooperation from the Canadian members of the Peace Bridge Authority board” in backing the Buffalo-side redevelopment plan, which includes the proposed $20-million renovation of a commercial customs station — the one part of the plan that has been approved by the board.

The five U.S. members of the board have also tried to orchestrate the firing of the bridge’s Canadian general manager, Ron Rienas, according to the News.

Now, three state politicians in New York have announced plans to introduce legislation aimed at dismantling the Peace Bridge Authority, allowing the upcoming 2020 end of its current mandate in the U.S. to lapse without renewal, giving oversight of bridge operations on the American side to the U.S. Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

Republican state senator Mark Grisanti and Democratic state assemblyman Sean Ryan said Saturday they will draft bipartisan legislation to dissolve the international bridge agency because “it has become clear that the PBA is no longer a functioning body” in the wake of recent disputes.

Such public authorities “are too often arrogant, unaccountable and lack transparency. The PBA is all of the above and it is time that we shut down this dysfunctional authority. The people of Western New York deserve better,” Grisanti said in the statement.

“It is time for a productive solution that will allow the NFTA to manage the Peace Bridge, something that fits within their core mission of administering public transportation,” added Ryan.

Another Republican state senator, George Maziarz, also voiced his support for dissolving the PBA in the joint statement from the New York legislators.

“I am extremely concerned over the current situation at the PBA,” said. “New York State, under the leadership of Governor Cuomo has shown its dedication to improving the U.S. Plaza of the Peace Bridge. The lack of cooperation and respect from the Canadian members is very disappointing, especially considering the continued support by the U.S. of the Canadian projects over the years.”

The oversight crisis at the Peace Bridge comes just a week after Napolitano’s department sparked a controversy by proposing to charge a land border crossing fee on every vehicle or pedestrian coming into the U.S. from Canada.

The proposal, contained in the Department of Homeland Security’s budget plans for 2014, has been strongly condemned by politicians and business groups on both sides of the border as a potential killer of billions of dollars’ worth of transboundary commerce.

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